1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electrical connector mounted on a circuit board, and particularly to an electrical connector with a board locking means for sufficient retention in an insulative housing of the electrical connector.
2. The Prior Art
Conventional electrical connector for use with a computer system is equipped with a number of board locking means to mount the electrical connector onto a circuit board in the computer system. Generally, connector manufacturers pay more attention to the structural design of a retention portion of the board locking means which is used to sufficiently latch with a corresponding hole defined in the circuit board. However, to the design of an attachment portion of the board locking means used for retaining the board locking means within an associated cavity defined in an insulative housing of the electrical connector is usually neglected. Consequently, it is usually happened that when the board locking means is improperly retained or inserted within the circuit board, or when the board locking means is inaccurately oriented in the cavity of the housing, a retention effect between the board locking means and the insulative housing may be reduced. Additionally, if the retention portion and the attachment portion both are substantially formed in a close spatial relationship, the attachment portions retained in a large area within the housing may relatively reduce the elasticity of the retention portion. The apparent example would be a pair of spring claws each formed with a plurality of barbs along opposite lateral edges thereof. Such conventional electrical connectors with board locking means are disclosed in Taiwan Application Nos. 80,207,178, 80,202,099, 80,213,095, 81,205,296, 81,201,057, 81,213,628, 81,212,824, 81,211,189, 82,204,413, 83,207,736, 82,107,923 and 83,106,349.
Accordingly, to resolve the above disadvantages, an object of the present invention is to provide a board locking means including a plurality of retention portions for latching with the circuit board, and a plurality of attachment portions for retention in an insulative housing wherein the mutual effect between the retention portions and the attachment portions through action of an external active force is sufficiently reduced.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a board locking means including a plurality of extensive arms for accurately orienting the inserted board locking means in the insulative housing, and for enhancing the retention effect between the insulative housing and the board locking means.